The Hornets can expect to have shooting guard Eric Gordon back with them in New Orleans on Saturday. Gordon will rejoin his teammates after a long stint in Los Angeles, where he rehabbed a hurt right knee.

Gordon, who has missed 25 games, has no set date for a return to the court for the Hornets. He will participate in multiple practices before any decision is made, coach Monty Williams said, according to The Times-Picayune.

Eric Gordon, who has dealt with a series of right knee injuries, is expected to rejoin his teammates in New Orleans on Saturday. (AP Photo)

New Orleans’ highest-paid player was more definitive about his comeback, predicting he will back in the thick of things before the end of the month, the Times-Picayune reported.

Expectations for Gordon were high entering the season. A restricted free agent this summer, the Hornets matched a four-year, $58 million offer sheet from the Phoenix Suns to retain Gordon.

What return will come from that investment remains a mystery. Gordon had arthroscopic knee surgery last February, with later injuries—which included a patella tendon disorder and bone bruise—causing further trouble for Gordon’s right knee.

"I had a lot of pain and all throughout my knee cap,’’ Gordon said before the Hornets played the Clippers, his former team, on Wednesday night, according to the Times-Picayune. "It shut down all my muscles around my leg from my calf to even my quads. So that’s what I was dealing with and if I would have kept on going I would have had to undergo possible surgery.’’

When the Hornets traded Chris Paul to the Clippers, Gordon was the big prize New Orleans received in return. He averaged 22.3 points and 4.4 assists in 56 games in his final season in Los Angeles. And in the nine games he has played with New Orleans last season resulted in an impressive 20.6 points and 3.4 assists. But his talent is not the issue; keeping him on the court is the problem.

"I'm more than 90 percent sure I'm going to play before this month is over,'' Gordon said. "That's what I'm striving for and I'm starting now to turn things up.''